New post about FOF7 on Football Frontier blog

[Taco]

http://www.solecismic.com/frontierblog/?p=607

No, it’s not a Stimulus Package
Front Office Football Seven is getting nearer to reality.

Three months ago, I took questions about Front Office Football Seven, as it had been under development for, really, five years. Though more serious development started early this year. At the time, I hoped I would release the new product in November.

November approaches, and it’s a lot closer. Many key new features are in place and tested. I have my final “beta” list – the new product will be feature-complete soon. What that means in the software world is that when this list is exhausted, nothing new will be added. The entire focus will be testing and preparing the product for release. Since I test as I develop when I get later in the cycle, my alpha is the same as my beta (but nothing like my gamma, and certainly not in the same world as my delta).

If I had to guess, I’d say beta will begin the second week of November. Maybe the third. The bulk of the testing will focus on multi-player play, because that stresses the game more and many of the new features focus on the multi-player experience.

It won’t be a flashier game. I’ve cleaned up the graphics somewhat, but my philosophy of game development is that a cleaner, simpler interface is better for long-term enjoyment. I will not sacrifice screen space for bells and whistles. I don’t like full-screen products. I think I’ve hit maybe 1998 when it comes to a modern look. Which is an improvement over 1996, where I was last time. Now if I could only charge real 1998 prices for entertainment software, but I digress…

At beta, a product release is about a month away. So I’m hopeful to release this in the Christmas rush. That’s certainly manageable from a development perspective. The question remains how this product will be released. Is it a Steam product, which provides an internal marketing that can’t be matched? Do I stay with ViaTech, which is a smaller ViaTech than it was ten years ago, but it’s familiar, gives me the opportunity to release the exact moment it’s ready and, I’m told, has a new library that solves the myriad of installation issues some of have faced with Windows 7/8. If Steam is the answer, I may need to take a week or so now getting the product into Greenlight (which may end up failing entirely, of course). I may lose the opportunity to release by Christmas. I’ll have to get my hands on a web cam (no small diversion – I don’t own a smart phone, and have no desire to get one).

Or do I find an entirely new avenue for production? Thankfully, this does not mean printing CDs myself and spending the next three months non-stop shipping them all over the world. Been there, done that too many times now. I’ve faced my full life’s allotment of hostile post-office clerks (Carnation, Washington and Amherst, New Hampshire, I am talking about you).

So the rest of the year will be quite busy, and I will be entirely focused on what it will take to finish development and get Front Office Football Seven out the door. The feature set really hasn’t changed since the interview in July. Maybe a tweak here and there. I’ll keep you posted when things change.

As for this blog… WordPress no longer supports php4 and my ISP is rather slow to upgrade. I don’t want to take the time to learn a new blog installation. For at least a year, comments have been broken here. I’ve reverted the blog to the most basic WordPress theme. I’ve removed almost all of the plugins (spambots are ridiculous these days, so to prevent dozens of spam comments a day, I took some time to locate an old version of Akismet that works with php4). I took out the captcha plugin and have switched to pre-moderated comments. All the error messages are gone, so somewhat of a discussion is possible, though I will probably not publish any comments along the lines of “will feature-x be in the new game” or “when will it be released.” That will be covered when it’s released and a free demo will be published so people can review the basics of the game and help file.

Anyway, that’s the latest. I remain very busy and very focused on the new product. Thanks for listening.

[NawlinsFan]

I appreciate Jim's honesty and description of the process he will follow. A Christmas release would be good but I am all for it being released when it is ready, December, January..... whenever. As for the graphics I understand his position but am wondering if there would be a way to allow some of us that want to tinker with it to be able to do so; i.e. backgrounds, etc. Lastly IMO Steam could be a tremendous shot in the arm from the vantage point of getting the product out to the masses pretty quickly.

[Berger]

Yeah, the great thing about the possibility of getting it on a Steam platform is that it doesn't necessarily have to be the initial release. Jim can release this through Viatech initially, then move it to Steam if it gets greenlighted. I think that'd be the optimal situation for all parties involved. That way people can start paying for the game when it's released and there should be a nice influx of new players when the game hits Steam.

[Julio Riddols]

Exciting news. I also don't care about any delays, the product being done right and distribution being handled in the best way possible are the two most important things.

[MizzouRah]

Isn't Steam Greenlight hard to get your product approved and on Steam? OOTP has been trying and has been unsuccessful, so I'm just curious about that process.

Like NawlinsFan said, would be neat if Jim gives us some "mod" options so some of the great graphics peeps we have on here can tinker with that a bit.

[Berger]

yeah, it can be pretty difficult to get a product on greenlight. So if he wanted to go that route, we may not get the game, even if it's done, til middle of next year and possibly no steam. So it makes sense to just release it when it's done and let Greenlight take it's course and if the stars align, then great.

[A-Husker-4-Life]

I'd go with ViaTech, something your familiar with and thanks for the update..

[Antmeister]

* Rolls dice * Come on Mid November.

[Yoda]

I've played FoF this long (just before 2k7 came out)... worth waiting for a product done right.

[Scarecrow]

Why doesn't Jim call his buddies over at EA and get the game put on Origin?

(yes I understand this joke might be over most of the noob's head)

[Carman Bulldog]

I have no issue with the dated graphics, after all it is a text sim and it's what's under the hood that is important. And I'm glad Jim is right up front about it. At the same time, it would be nice if it allowed for some customization in regards to skins, graphics, etc.

[Senator]

Substance over style is old fashioned, but I like it.

[aston217]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

Like NawlinsFan said, would be neat if Jim gives us some "mod" options so some of the great graphics peeps we have on here can tinker with that a bit.

Ooooh, yes. This.

Just design the interface smartly (i.e, no more going across six screens to do formations by mentally adding numbers up to 100, no more going through 60 player cards to do weight training or special teams enable...) and allow the community to clean up with skins. I know they'll do a great job.

[RomaGoth]

This is great news. I would also rather have the game done right and wait longer for its release. OOTP developments botched the FHM release and I don't want to see that again.

Excited for this game Jim, keep up the good work!

(p.s., congrats on not owning a smartphone, wish I could get rid of mine)

[NawlinsFan]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

Isn't Steam Greenlight hard to get your product approved and on Steam? OOTP has been trying and has been unsuccessful, so I'm just curious about that process.

Like NawlinsFan said, would be neat if Jim gives us some "mod" options so some of the great graphics peeps we have on here can tinker with that a bit.

Guess we will see........ both OOTP 14 and FHM are on Greenlight today!

[Karim]

If something as buggy and rushed to release as FHM can get on Steam, FOF should have no problem.

[Vaevictis_386]

What's FHM?

[Alf]

Hockey ?

[Vaevictis_386]

Field Hockey Manager?

[Berger]

Franchise Hockey Manager. I was going to buy it, but after seeing all the comments on their forum about it being practically unplayable, I decided to hold off.

[Vaevictis_386]

Thanks!